Ask Alexa to play your favorite SiriusXM station

Alexa just got another new skill. Starting today, SiriusXM subscribers will be able to play any of the radio's available channels through their Alexa devices, depending on the package they're subscribed to. Howard Stern announced the news this morning on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show.

Other recent Alexa upgrades have included extending the AI assistant's voice control to all video streaming services, adding the ability to set reminders as well as iCloud calendar support. Google's Home has also been getting new features to boost its utility, though SiriusXM is not yet one of them.

Amazon's and Google's focus on making their smart speakers helpful with a number of services is different from their recently announced competitor, Apple's HomePod. Apple is going another route, focusing on its speaker quality over its AI assistant.

Using the new SiriusXM feature is simple. For example, all of you Parrotheads out there, to listen to your favorite channel, all you have to do is say "Alexa, play Radio Margaritaville on SiriusXM." And then you can sit back in your Hawaiian shirts and drink a margarita, or eat a cheeseburger, or whatever it is you do. I don't know, I don't listen to the stuff.